From eye to arrow

Attention capture by direct gaze requires more than just the eyes

authored by: Christina Breil, Lynn Huestegge, Anne Böckler
Abstract: Abstract: Human attention is strongly attracted by direct gaze and sudden onset motion. The sudden direct-gaze effect refers to the processing advantage for targets appearing on peripheral faces that suddenly establish eye contact. Here, we investigate the necessity of social information for attention capture by (sudden onset) ostensive cues. Six experiments involving 204 participants applied (1) naturalistic faces, (2) arrows, (3) schematic eyes, (4) naturalistic eyes, or schematic facial configurations (5) without or (6) with head turn to an attention-capture paradigm. Trials started with two stimuli oriented towards the observer and two stimuli pointing into the periphery. Simultaneous to target presentation, one direct stimulus changed to averted and one averted stimulus changed to direct, yielding a 2 × 2 factorial design with direction and motion cues being absent or present. We replicated the (sudden) direct-gaze effect for photographic faces, but found no corresponding effects in Experiments 2–6. Hence, a holistic and socially meaningful facial context seems vital for attention capture by direct gaze. Statement of significance: The present study highlights the significance of context information for social attention. Our findings demonstrate that the direct-gaze effect, that is, the prioritization of direct gaze over averted gaze, critically relies on the presentation of a meaningful holistic and naturalistic facial context. This pattern of results is evidence in favor of early effects of surrounding social information on attention capture by direct gaze.
Organisation(s): Institute of Psychology
External Organisation(s): Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science (MPI CBS)
Type: Article
Journal: Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics
Volume: 84
Pages: 64-75
No. of pages: 12
ISSN: 1943-3921
Publication date: 01.2022
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Language and Linguistics, Sensory Systems, Linguistics and Language
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02382-2 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{323bc3dd279c4d4db8f5445e02c071d7,
title = "From eye to arrow: Attention capture by direct gaze requires more than just the eyes",
abstract = "Abstract: Human attention is strongly attracted by direct gaze and sudden onset motion. The sudden direct-gaze effect refers to the processing advantage for targets appearing on peripheral faces that suddenly establish eye contact. Here, we investigate the necessity of social information for attention capture by (sudden onset) ostensive cues. Six experiments involving 204 participants applied (1) naturalistic faces, (2) arrows, (3) schematic eyes, (4) naturalistic eyes, or schematic facial configurations (5) without or (6) with head turn to an attention-capture paradigm. Trials started with two stimuli oriented towards the observer and two stimuli pointing into the periphery. Simultaneous to target presentation, one direct stimulus changed to averted and one averted stimulus changed to direct, yielding a 2 × 2 factorial design with direction and motion cues being absent or present. We replicated the (sudden) direct-gaze effect for photographic faces, but found no corresponding effects in Experiments 2–6. Hence, a holistic and socially meaningful facial context seems vital for attention capture by direct gaze. Statement of significance: The present study highlights the significance of context information for social attention. Our findings demonstrate that the direct-gaze effect, that is, the prioritization of direct gaze over averted gaze, critically relies on the presentation of a meaningful holistic and naturalistic facial context. This pattern of results is evidence in favor of early effects of surrounding social information on attention capture by direct gaze.",
keywords = "Attention capture, Direct gaze, Face perception, Social cognition, Social cues, Social interaction",
author = "Christina Breil and Lynn Huestegge and Anne B{\"o}ckler",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation (grant number BO 4962/1-1). We thank Jason Tipples, Sara McCrackin, and one anonymous reviewer for their constructive suggestions that helped us to strengthen our article. ",
year = "2022",
month = jan,
doi = "10.3758/s13414-021-02382-2",
language = "English",
volume = "84",
pages = "64--75",
journal = "Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics",
issn = "1943-3921",
publisher = "Springer New York",
number = "1",
}